I like Mark Martin, and respect what he has done, but I don't think he would dump Smoke on purpose. I think on the last G-W-C, his intentions was to get hooked up with Tony and go. But lets not forget, Mark had a damaged car, and really was never in the hunt all day. Until some big wrecks occured, you never saw his car near the front. Maybe Mark was gun-shy, maybe not. It was odd to see Tony try to back up to him in 1 & 2 and Mark still not hook up. Tony did everything he could, he just couldn't get the help when he needed it. When Dale Jr had a flat tire and had to come in, I knew Tony just lost his chance. Those two hooked up at a plate track are unstoppable, and everyone knew it.

What Happened To Tony Stewart, Mark Martin In Daytona 500? by Jeff Gluck

Tony Stewart and Mark Martin lined up on the outside for the final restart of the Daytona 500, both drivers just two laps away from an elusive victory in NASCAR's biggest race.

But when the green flag flew, Stewart and Martin dropped anchor and fell back through the field. Stewart finished 13th; Martin was eighth.

It was a disappointing result for both, especially for Martin – who had returned to the lead lap after being three laps down. Both drivers will return to Daytona in 2012 still in search of their first win in the 500.

For some reason, the Stewart/Martin two-car tandem just couldn't get going. What the heck happened?

"We just never got the bumpers locked together; we kept bouncing off each other," Stewart said Friday. "Then a couple guys got a run through the center there, and it just pulled him off of us even more. We got separated so badly that we never did get hooked back up together."

Martin said the two simply "broke apart." He kept trying to push Stewart, but he couldn't get attached and would bump Stewart's car forward when he tried to connect them.

"For reasons that we can't determine right now, those things break apart when other cars are around, and we broke apart and Tony didn't immediately know it," he said. "So by the time he realized it, we were far enough apart that it was too late now. Our chance was over."

Martin's big comeback from being so many laps down had left him feeling like the Daytona 500 was shaping up to be something special for the veteran, but it just didn't work out that way.

"I thought we had an excellent, excellent shot at it, but as it turned out, we didn't get the run that we hoped we would," he said. "The wind from the other cars broke us apart."

"Our race fans know more about my schedule than I know about my schedule...Race fans are a special breed of fan you do not see in other sports. They will ride the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows with you no matter what."
Tony Stewart

Thank you, Bel14. You did well. Its nice to finaly hear something from both drivers. I just question whom was disappointed more. Some how I don't think Mark Martin has as much disappointment in him as Tony does, JMO. LOL

Thanks Bel14. Good to hear from the drivers. Still don't get mark's comments about how Tony was late in seeing that Martin wasn't getting hooked up on the restart. If you look at the replays you can see that smoke starts backing off early back up to Martin. Idk. Just wasn't meant to be.

Here is another article that was in the St. Petersburg Times (FL) this morning.

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St. Petersburg Times wires In Print: Saturday, February 26, 2011

Tony Stewart must try to forget Daytona 500

0-for-13 in the Daytona 500

0for13.jpg (36.52 KiB) Viewed 2315 times

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Sitting second in what would be the final restart at the Daytona 500, Tony Stewart was in prime position to end his long and seemingly inexplicable winless streak in "The Great American Race."

But after a missed hookup with Mark Martin and another car or two thrown into the mix, the driver they call "Smoke" saw his hopes go up in smoke.

Now 0-for-13 in NASCAR's biggest race, Stewart can only shrug this one off and move to the next race. It's the only move he has at this point.

"It's over. We're on to Phoenix now," Stewart said Friday after a practice session at Phoenix International Raceway. " … If we're paying attention to what we did last week, we're not doing a good job this week right now."

Stewart, 39, has been a winner seemingly everywhere in everything.

He has championships in karts, midgets and USAC sprints and earned the 1997 Indy Racing League title. In Sprint Cup he has two titles and 39 victories. His 12-year run with at least one victory is the longest in the series.

He has had a lot of success at Daytona, too, with 16 total victories, including last weekend's Nationwide race.

But when it comes to the Daytona 500, Stewart can't quite pull it off.

An offseason repaving made two-car drafting the only way to get to the front last week. Stewart worked the system well throughout the race, moving to the front after starting 25th, but he just lost touch when he needed it the most.

Coming out of the restart, he and Martin, right behind him, tried to get a two-car train going. But they couldn't synch up, bouncing off each other's bumpers. Stewart and Martin began drifting apart; Martin found another drafting partner, Stewart didn't and it was too late for both. Martin finished 10th, Stewart 13th.

"We had an excellent shot at it, but as it turned out, we didn't get the run we had hoped, and the wind from the other cars broke us apart," said Martin, himself 0-for-27 in the 500. "It wouldn't have been any big deal if we would have had five laps left, but we only had a lap and a half left, and we were broke well apart — four or five or six car lengths."

Next up is Phoenix, which will look and feel quite different when NASCAR returns this fall.

Almost as soon as the checkers drop Sunday, the mile-long oval will undergo its first repaving in 20 years, along with a slight reconfiguration that will add progressive banking.

"Everybody's good when tracks have grip," Stewart said. "It's been that way in every form of racing that I've ever seen. It's when the crews have to work on the handling of the car and the drivers have to find ways of finding more grip or managing the grip they have — that's when it separates the men from the boys, so to speak."

A little less separation with Martin and Stewart could have been gripping one of the few trophies he doesn't have.